Gotcha Date:April 30th 2011Birthday:August 14th 2010Likes:FOOD!Pet-Peeves:Petting her earsFavorite Toy:MIceFavorite Food:Fancy FeastSkills:HuntingDwells:
indoors Arrival Story:My new Mom came into the shelter to find two orange boy cats. I convinced her that she needed ME!Bio:She was recently diagnosed with very severe asthma. She is struggling, but still trying to get better.Lives Remaining:2 of 9Forums Motto:Cute but stupidHonors!:Diary of the day: 8/16/2012

Helen's Haverings

A month ago, when Mom wrote my diary, she really thought I was gonna journey to the Rainbow Bridge. I was more sick than anyone knew. I was coughing and gasping for breath ALL the time. I was a sad little cat and had no fun in my life. She had taken me to see what we thought was going to be a cat respiratory specialist. But Texas A&M goofed up and i had an appointment with a dog pancreas specialist instead. The dog pancreas specialist did one totally smart thing, and put me on a lung medicine. This medicine helped me a LOT, but only for short periods of time (6-7 hours.)

BUT, the good news is, Mom kept giving it to me long enough for me to last until the cat lung specialist came back from his vacation. The medicine didn't make me well, but it kept me from dying. And then I went to see the actual cat lung specialist two weeks ago and he changed my medicine around. I wrote about that in my diary.

SO here's the update: I haven't coughed or gasped for breath in TWELVE days!!!! We're not sure if it's the small change in the type of prednisone. or the course of antibiotics I took that's made me better. (That stuff was GROSS!) But Mom hasn't thought I should go to the Bridge in FIFTEEN days! I still have irreversible advanced lung damage, but I'm doing very well right now. Mom says I'm living on the edge of the Bridge, but I've got all four paws firmly on solid ground for now.

And I play again now! Mom doesn't have to play quiet games secretly with the boys anymore! If I hear any gaming going on, I'm THERE! Mom is so happy, she's kissing me ALL the time. She even comes in the Girl Cave at night to kiss me good night. And I purr for her. I've never been much of a purr-er, but I know she fought really hard for me, and I love her because of that. And we BOTH love Dr. August, the lung dude. He's our hero!

I went to college again today. I go to Texas A&M. It's a good school, but I hate it. It's a million miles away from our house, and it takes FOREVER to get there. Today was a pretty good trip, tho, because I got to learn about windshield wipers. They are pretty awesome. I recommend all cats get to know windshield wipers. They'll really keep your attention.

I finally got to meet Roger's pal, the august Dr. August. He's a cool dude! He's very calm and really gets me! He looked at all the videos of me coughing and my CAT scan. They did a fresh chest Xray and some lab work. He said I have advanced irreversible lung damage. We're gonna try a different medicine regimen to see if I can live a better life.

After the visit, Dr. August walked us out to the car. Mom took me out of the stroller and was gonna put me in the car. But I had other ideas, so I made a run for it. I got under the car! I crawled up inside the front of the car. I was SAFE! Dr. August was crawling on the ground looking for me. Then he called in reinforcements of younger more agile people than he and Mom. Some other doggie owners came over to help too. One dude named Jayton, who's a third year vet student, got under the car with me. He and I had a talk. He told me there was nowhere else to run, and it was wet and cold and would mess up my fur. So I let him grab me and he handed me to Dr. August. They stuffed me in the car, and they all hugged as tho they had won. Then Mom and I drove home.

So now, I'm not talking to Mom. And I'll be starting new meds tonight. I'm not destined to live a real long time like Boomer, but we're gonna make the most of whatever time I have, and enjoy all my friends and love them back every bit as much as they love me.

I'm sick, but I'm still pretty.
I have really bad azma.
I cough and wheeze and struggle to breathe every day.
I have had heart tests and tummy tests and chest tests.
I even had a CAT scan; That's a dumb test.
All you need to do is LOOK at me, and you'll see I'm a CAT.
All of the tests, of course, show that I'm pretty.
But they also showed I have VERY bad azma.
I've been on every medicine and have shown some response to the ones I'm on right now.

Mom stayed home with me ALL weekend, except for 4 hours.
I have to have medicine every 8 hours to do my best.
But Mom works, so it's hard to dose me every 8 hours.
Mom's gonna see if there's a form of the medicine that can be dosed every 12 hours.
But even WITH the medicine, I cough with any exertion.
Mom tried to give me inhaled treatment, but I fought so hard I exhausted myself.
I was so sick after that that Mom almost had me journey yesterday.
So we're not gonna do that anymore, 'cause it made my breathing WAY worse.

I don't have much joie de vivre. (That means joy of life)
But the boys are being nice to me, and not biting me anymore.
As long as I'm stable, I'll get to stay here.
But we just cannot tell how long that's gonna be.

Thank you all for all your love and concern for me.
Mom and I are trying our hardest to get me stable.
If I have more days like today, I might be around for a LONG time!
But no matter what, I'm still gonna be pretty!